West Railway Beijing Station was opened for operation in 1996. It is the largest railway station in Asia, with 510,000 square meters. Most of the trains here are heading to the west or South west of China including Xian, Chongqing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Changsha, Xiamen, Guilin, Hohhot, Jinan, Urumqi, Lhasa, Hong Kong, Guangzhou etc.

Major Speed Rails to major cities will start here as well:

Beijing --> Baoding --> Shijiazhuangbei --> Yangquanbei --> Taiyuan.

I was there to take the Speed-rain to Taiyuan. It took 3 hours only, Y149. From Taiyuan, I took the 1.5hours train to Pingyao.

The metro station is under construction. So, you can get public bus to this station from most part of Beijing. Look out for this Chinese Character " 北京西站 " (Be Jing Xi Zhan) at the bus-stop.

There are many hotels near the station including Home Inns, but the rate is slightly higher than other area. Restaurants, shopping malls, banks and shops are easy to find in the neighborhood.

Inside the Railway Station, you can continue shopping, dinning, watching movies, and booking hotel at the Ctrip office for your next destination.